Walking Meditation: The Art of Mindful Walking
May 6th, 2008 by Barbara Williamson
Walking is known to provide clear health benefits for your body. It’s good for your heart, helps you burn calories, and it is good for your circulation.
But here is something else for you to consider: why not use your walking exercise as a time for meditation?. Most people take up walking because it’s a great form of exercise, it is easy on the joints and it isn’t complicated to learn.
You don’t need any special equipment. Just start walking and you are instantly on your way to better health. When you add meditation to your walking, you will find the experience invaluable.
So what is walking meditation, or mindful walking? It is when you deliberately focus on your every step. You don’t have to increase your speed, in fact, you might begin by walking slower so you can get the hang of mindful walking.
When you focus on your walking, pay attention to how it feels as you raise your foot then place it back down on the ground, one step at a time. Walking meditation has its roots in Buddhism, in particular the art of Ayatana. In Christianity, the practice of labyrinth walking is considered to be a form of walking meditation.
Walking meditation helps you stay focused on the now moment. You will find your stress gradually disappearing as you become more skilled at the practice.
The most familiar forms of meditation have you sitting with eyes shut, concentrating on mental clarity. With mindful walking, your eyes are wide open, taking in the outside world. This gives the walker the opportunity to get outside of the head and all its chatter; a very valuable experience, especially for westerners.
Here are some basic tips for walking meditation:
* Walk in an area that you are familiar and comfortable with.
* Attempt to walk for a 20 minute time period. If you find that is too long for you, then you may want to begin with a 5 minute period and work your way up to 20 minutes.
* Start walking with a relaxed posture.
* Concentrate on how your feet feel.
* Let your arms hang down in a relaxed manner.
* Keep your focus gentle and about 3-6 feet in front of you.
In conclusion, mindful walking is a practice that is easy to implement into your daily exercise regiment. Not only will you be helping your body out, but you will be taking your exercise program up a notch by improving your mind and spirit.
Just start walking.
